THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AND METHANE

Months ago the Australian Government revealed it was looking at a gas led recovery from the economic slump the nation is in as a result of the COVID crisis. Last week we heard more about this plan.

This latest energy ‘policy’ is another disappointment.  Since it came to power in 2013 the Federal Government has introduced and then abandoned a series of energy policies, largely because of the intransigence of the climate deniers in in its ranks who are determined to continue business as usual with fossil fuels.

This latest is just another version of business as usual.  Instead of coal, we have gas – methane  – another fossil fuel.  The Government’s claim that gas is not as emissions intensive as coal ignores the problem of fugitive emissions during gas mining and transport.  And methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas which, although it remains in the atmosphere for a shorter time than CO₂ , is about 86 times more potent per unit of mass over 20 years according to recent studies

The folly of replacing one fossil fuel with another is just one of the problems with the Government’s latest energy plan.  Another is the economic situation of the gas industry globally.

According to Bruce Robertson, a gas analyst with the Institute of Energy, Economics and Financial Analysis, the gas industry around the world is in dire straits for a variety of reasons.  There is a global gas glut with gas companies around the world declaring bankruptcy and major projects being shelved.

And yet we have the Federal Government supporting the expansion of gas mining and pipeline infrastructure and construction of a gas-fired peaking plant in the Hunter Valley.  And if the private sector won’t build this plant, the government says it will build it.  Robertson says, “If investors won’t back it, why should taxpayers?”

If the federal government gets its way, we will be locked in to using gas for around 30 years, endangering our Paris climate commitment as well as exposing taxpayers to the likelihood of a stranded asset. 

Looks as if the long term national interest is once again a politician-inflicted casualty.

            - Leonie Blain

This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on September 21 ,  2020.

 

GAS MINING IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

Governments around Australia are under pressure to allow development of coal seam gas and shale gas reserves.  The pressure is from the gas industry and associated industries which will profit from gas mining - as well as the Federal Government. 

The Federal Government is pushing the expansion of the on-shore gas industry in NSW, Victoria, the Northern Territory and elsewhere because it claims this is necessary to ensure cheaper gas is available for Australian households, manufacturing industries and electricity generation. 

 

Currently there is more than enough on-shore gas being produced for domestic purposes but it is all being exported due to the failure of successive federal and state governments to have sufficient reserved for domestic use.

The Northern Territory situation has been in the news in recently because of an inquiry into the risks of fracking (hydraulic fracturing) if the industry is allowed to go ahead there.  The current moratorium on the industry and the inquiry is the result of an election pledge by the government elected in August 2016.

If the moratorium is lifted, there will be serious climate  implications according to the Australia Institute. 

In its submission to the inquiry the Institute stated, “Even a 5% increase in Australia’s emissions from a single gasfield is a large and unacceptable increase.  It is completely inconsistent with Australia’s carbon budget and our commitments under the Paris agreement.”

The Institute claimed that burning the NT’s total gas resource would emit 12.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Then there is the problem of fugitive methane emissions from seepage and leaks.  And methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide – particularly over shorter periods.

However, carbon emissions are only one of the major problems noted by those who oppose the development of the industry.  Others include concern about water use and contamination of aquifers, the risks to human health and the poor record of the government in ensuring compliance with mining development conditions.

It will be very interesting to see what the NT Government decides.

            - Leonie Blain

 This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on March 5, 2018. 

DOMESTIC GAS AVAILABILITY IN AUSTRALIA AND TAXATION

Energy prices and energy security have been in the news for many months now.  While this issue is very complex, the debate about causes and solutions has been marred by erroneous claims and blame-shifting by politicians.  This has done little to enlighten the electorate or solve the problems the nation faces. 

 

The security/price problem exists because successive governments from both major parties have failed to understand the impact of the technological change and to plan properly for the future.

Added to this is the failure, particularly by the Federal Government, to understand community opposition to coal seam gas (CSG) mining and fracking and the threats this industry poses to agriculture, clean water, the natural environment and  human health.  Communities in the NSW Northern Rivers and elsewhere have learnt from overseas and Queensland just how invasive and damaging this industry is. 

The Federal Government’s concern about domestic gas availability and price have led to it planning to restrict exports when there is a local shortage.  It has also called on states such as NSW and Victoria to open up their states to CSG and unconventional gas mining.

Unsurprisingly the export restriction plan has annoyed the extremely profitable companies exporting huge quantities of Australian gas.  One of their spokespersons, former federal politician Ian Macfarlane, now Queensland Resources Council CEO, supports the government’s call to remove bans on CSG and unconventional gas mining in NSW and Victoria.  That gas could then be used domestically without affecting the industry’s exports.  Furthermore Macfarlane suggested states not lifting bans should be penalised by getting a smaller GST share.

Lock the Gate’s National Coordinator, Carmel Flint, said this was an extraordinary attempt by the mining and resource sector to undermine the “democratic distribution of our taxes”.  She also pointed out that sixty percent of large energy and resource companies pay no corporate tax in Australia and that it was disgraceful that they should attempt to influence how taxes were spent in order to promote their industry.

 

Whatever the Federal Government and the big mining companies want, opposition to CSG and unconventional gas mining won’t go away.

            - Leonie Blain

  This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on July 24, 2017.